Morphology, phylogeny, mitogenomics and metagenomics reveal a new entomopathogenic fungus (Hypocreales, Ophiocordycipitaceae) from Southwestern China.

contains the largest number of , various species of which are of great medicinal value. In this study, a new entomopathogenic fungus, , from Yunnan in southwestern China, was described using morphological, phylogenetic, and mitogenomic evidence, and its fungal community composition was identified. It was morphologically characterized by a solitary, woody, and dark brown stromata, smooth-walled and septate hyphae, solitary and gradually tapering conidiogenous cells with plenty of warty protrusions, and oval or fusiform conidia (6.4-11.2 × 3.7-6.4 µm) with mucinous sheath. The phylogenetic location of was determined based on the Bayesian inference (BI) and the maximum likelihood (ML) analyses by concatenating nrSSU, nrLSU, , , and datasets, and ten mitochondrial protein-coding genes (PCGs) datasets (, , , , , , , , , and ). Phylogenetic analyses revealed that belonged to the subclade within the clade of . And was phylogenetically clustered with , , and . Simultaneously, five fungal phyla and 151 fungal genera were recognized in the analysis of the fungal community of . The fungal community composition differed from that of , and differences in the microbial community composition of closely related species might be appropriate as further evidence for taxonomy.